Birthday Weekend

I had a fabulous birthday weekend thanks to my friend, Kimberly. Her family has a cabin in Forest lakes, a 3 hour drive from here. It was absolutely gorgeous!

We devised this plan when Kimberly found out Sophie has never been to the snow! She is truly an Arizona kid. And I'll tell you Forest lakes snow is SOOOO much more fun than Nebraska snow. We could play outside there for hours, it was perfect.

Tony and I shoveled a smooth path for the kids to sled and they loved it. 

 Sophie Sledding

 Celeste Sledding

 Kiddos' first snowman.

Our evenings were spent by the warm fire, eating yummy home made dinners, sipping wine and playing games with the kids.

Perfection.

 

OLW January Assignment

I am still very excited about One Little Word for 2012. I just finished January's assignments and so far I love it! Each month there will be a video to watch, then assignments for journaling, photography, art work, you name it, to help us focus on our word for the year.

First, we were to use an 8.5X11 album with We R Memory Keeper 9 pocket page protectors and C-Line 4X6 peel and stick pockets. After that it was suggested to use items from your stash, but what fun is that? I wanted some products that I could use throughout the book, and would last the entire year (or years if I keep it up). Here is what I chose (all product from the best place on earth, ETC.):

 Papers by October Afternoon, Farmhouse line, with Bazzill cardstocks in Dusk, Yukon Gold, Lagoon, and Sandbox.

 Added in some fabrics and trims by Moda, Urban Cowgirl line.

And some K&Co Smash Book Products.

And here is my album for the year:

 The class came with downloadable printwork, which I used in the cover's window.

The actual assignment is a title page (4X6 sleeve):

 Backed with a current photo (I cheated and used one from last summer) with the downloaded photo overlay:

 And our first 9 pocket page with 5 cards including our definition, thesaurus, why we chose the word, our intention with the word, and a quote with our word. The other four cards were freebies to do as we please:

 I love the process so far, and am really happy with the way it looks, too. Can't wait to see what they have in store for February!

One Little Word

For years I have been interested in One Little Word {olw} but have yet to participate. Well this is my year. I had pretty much decided to do it this year, but reading posts by two of my acquaintances sealed the deal.

So, unbeknownst to them, my inspirations to participate in olw this year were Jenny and Angie {you can click on their names to read about their word choices}. I love reading their blogs, and they inspire me for different reasons. 

Jenny is truly amazing. She has such a great story, and her enthusiasm for life is inspiring. Her word suits her so well, "intentional". My take on this is- to really live life, not just go through the motions of daily routine. To be proactive, and not let life simply happen. What a great word!

And then there is Angie. She is so humble and introspective. She talks candidly about her struggles to stay true to herself and her beliefs. She chose "focus"as her 2012 word. My take on this is- to focus on what is important, prioritize and cut out all other distractions. Focus on what is important and let that guide you in the choices you make.

I love both their words. I love that they can apply them to many aspects of their lives. My word needed to do that for me too. So without further ado my OLW for 2012 is.....

Mindful.

To me this means for me to be mindful of what I say and do. Mindful of how I treat others. Mindful of what I eat. Mindful of what and who are really important to me. Mindful of choices I make in all aspects of my life. So this year I intend to be Mindful. Wish me luck!

Pinterest Sunday (and Monday, and Tuesday,Whew!)-Tiff's Wedding Gift

This Pinterest Sunday I bring you another window...

{At least it is not another cupcake, ha!}

My coworker, Tiff, got married in Utah last month. She is just 19 and the cutest girl ever! She is having a reception here as well, so I wanted to make her something special. Her reception will be an outdoor, rustic theme and I think one of my old farmhouse windows will be perfect.

 

Here they are in all their pre decorated glory:

 A little background, Tony and I saw them behind a hardware store in New Castle, OK while visiting Tony's sister. The store was closed because it was Sunday, so we got them when we went back a few months later. Tony's sister must have thought I was crazy when she saw 10 old dirty windows in the back of the truck!

 They take some scraping to get the old paint off. I would like to leave some like this, this one had a nice turquoise color underneath all the other layers, but it did not match Tiff's colors of cinnamon brown, peach/ivory, and blush pink.

 After scraping some more, I painted the window frame the cinnamon brown color. 

It took me a while to find a font I liked that I printed to follow as a template for hand painting the song lyrics. I chose "Amazed" by Lonestar and it reads:

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side, Forever and Ever".

 A little dry brushing so it does not look too neat.

And some finishing touches, photos from their wedding, little antique jars, and fresh flowers I matched to the bouquet in the photos:

I hope the bride and groom like it!

Christmakkah 2011

If my memories is correct, my family has spent the last 15 Christmases at home. Some years with family in from out of town, some by ourselves. This year we met up with my sister and her family in CA. It was so fun!

Christmas eve we all splurged and stayed at the Hilton at Huntington Beach.

 This is the lovely view from our balcony. We put our stockings out there for Santa to find, since we had no chimney!

We had Christmas eve dinner at BJ's in the little Huntington beach downtown area, where there was a total of 21 of us! We did a really fun white elephant gift exchange.

 After dinner, drunk Santa pulled up on his motorcycle and handed out gifts for the kids. He thought Alexa was the mom, and was oblivious to the fact my sister's kids are jewish. Must be the first time they got gifts from Santa!

Christmas Day we had a yummy brunch at the hotel before heading to the beach for a bike ride. It took 2 double seaters, a four seater, and two beach cruisers for our group! We must have looked like an interesting crew!

After the ride, the kids swam in the ocean, then warmed up at the Hilton's heated pool and hot tub.

Then it was back to my brother-in-law's parents house for a "Christmas Dinner" (or the traditional 6th night of Hanukkah dinner, since they are Jewish!).

 And here are a few pictures from the pier. All 7 cousins together for the first time in 2 1/2 years!

It was a merry, if unusual, Christmas!

 

Pinterest Sunday-Better Late Than Never

I am really loving Pinterest Sundays. Sunday has long been our laundry and grocery shopping day, so it's nice to add in a little fun! I would really like to try more crafts/sewing/home decor, but cupcakes seemed to have topped the list of what we make. They're just so fun and easy.

From the amount of booze cupcakes I have made, one might start to think I have a little problem. I actually have an alcoholic drink only a few times a year, but for some reason the boozy cupcakes appeal to me! On the rare occasions I do drink, one of my favorite mixed drinks is a Colorado Bulldog (Kahlua, vodka, soda, creme). For this reason these "white Russian cupcakes with Kahlua buttercream" really appealed to me. I used the recipe, for the most part, but substituted peppermint mocha Kahlua for all the alcohol:

I may have had to sample some of the ingredients, strictly for quality control of course! Yum!

The recipe turned out well. It only made one dozen, which was probably good since only a few of us could eat them!

 Aren't they lovely, sprinkled with a bit of the Trader Joe's Peppermint hot cocoa mix?

 

 My friend Debbie made this super cute stand for me, how nice was that? And guess where she saw it? Pinterest, of course!

Pinterest Sunday- Secret Santa

Every year at work we do a secret Santa gift exchange at our Christmas party. This year I got Jenny, and was so excited! She shares my love of all things shabby and I immediately knew what to make for her. What better than one of my old farmhouse windows I got last October in Oklahoma?!

Thanks to Pinterest, I was full of ideas. I wanted it to display photos, and I also wanted to incorporate fabric, as Jenny is one of our store's sewing extraordinaires! I started by painting the frame Swiss coffee, an off white color. It was still too light so I diluted my charcoal gray and gave it a little color wash to tone it down. Next I printed the words as a template and hand painted them to the window frame.

Then came the boy help. I wrapped peg board in fabric and Michael fastened it to the back of the window. He also helped me add the antique clips and handle for the photos to be displayed.

Thanks to Facebook, I was able to put actual pictures of all her children and grandchildren on it. I am sure she will change them out for better ones in the future, but for now I am so pleased with how it turned out!

Celeste asked me if I am going to make us one. Of course I plan to, but I have a few more I would like to do as gifts first!